Hospitality Manager 101: Don’t Like Where You Are? Change Your Direction 

Management Job Hunting is not be the mystery it is for many young adults. However, staying on your career development track will require discipline and learning how to avoid pitfalls. There are many associations and organizations in the restaurant and hotel industry that teaches people how to stay on track, become a qualified candidate, and ‘sell’ your skills to top restaurants and hotels. First take stock of who you are. When job hunting we are always focused on what we are and forget that who we are is a valuable, marketable commodity. We cannot change who we are. We can change what we are. As the Chinese proverb puts it, “If we don’t change our direction we’re likely to end up where we’re headed”.  

Parents don’t Always Know Best
Most people learn their management techniques from their peers and schools. They learn that building personal skills depends on earning money and ‘getting the job done Unfortunately, this is only half true. The part about earning money is sound. But as a management candidate you need to focus on how to earn money for the restaurant. 

Recruitment and employment agencies have thousands of resumes from people who ‘can get the job done’. They can manage the books, make reports for the general manager, and keep the floor running. But, most of these people do not know how to make the restaurant earn a profit. 

Avoid All Unnecessary Debt

 With the exception of a mortgage on a first home, and student loans stay out of debt. If you cannot manage your personal finances then how can you be trusted with a restaurant’s bottom line. . A much better strategy is to save money for major purchases and use cash.

Choose a job with an eye to growth

Once that first job out of school is landed, start planning the next career move. Check out the corporate ladder and decide if this is a good place to stay. If the top earner in the company makes less than the ideal salary, select another workplace and begin figuring out how skills and abilities gained on the present job will transfer.

Is there room for growth within the company? How long have previous managers worked for the restaurant or hotel? What is the staff turnover rate? These are things we often overlook when job hunting, but they are vital. A restaurant manager who has had four jobs in five years is not a marketable commodity.

Choose a Company That Fits
A profession should fit the person who chooses it the way a good suit fits; tailored to your skills, abilities and preferences. Choosing an appropriate profession gets a career started in the right direction. This is a job for an expert, and nobody is a better expert than the individual doing the choosing. A franchise may pay more, but if it doesn’t utilize your skills then you are not developing a career. 

The first step toward Management Job Hunting and independence. The second step is becoming part of the community. You don’t know what options are out there until you work with a recruitment firm, join some hospitality organizations, and attend a few conferences.